Newt Gingrich on the GSE Model
This interview has been floating around the web a little bit, but I don’t think it’s gotten quite the attention it deserves. Back when Newt Gingrich was serving as Freddie Mac’s in-house historian, he did a Q&A with them, in which he sang the praises not just of the housing GSEs, but of government-sponsored enterprises in general (emphasis added):
Let’s compare that to how Newt Gingrich characterized his interactions with Freddie Mac in last month’s CNBC debate:
This is a reminder that Newt Gingrich doesn’t really have a deep commitment to limited government. But it also reflects a serious problem with the “ownership society” position that many conservatives (not just Newt Gingrich) were taking in the mid-2000s. If you try to extend homeownership “as widely as possible,” that will involve getting people to buy homes even when renting is a more financially prudent decision. I just hope that the recognition that homeownership isn’t right for everybody will survive past the current crisis.
This piece originally appeared in National Review Online
This piece originally appeared in National Review Online